You Don't Look So Bad
by Miss Phyllis Baxter
Summary: After Rose's presentation and after Cora's "You don't look so bad yourself" comment. Originally written as a cute gift for mrs robert crawley (I believe.)


"You don't look so bad yourself," Cora said with a seductive smile painted across her face directed at her husband. Robert smiled back at her, leaving it for later. He knew precisely what she wanted, and he was going to play with her because of it. He began to form a plan to make her want him even more when they got back to Grantham House. It was definitely going to be a fun (and very sexy) evening for him and Cora.

Carson and James took everyone's coats and Robert took Cora's hand in a flash, leading her up the stairs as quickly as he could without either one of them falling. Cora's face broke into a wicked smile. He had picked up her hints at the palace and now her waiting time would be over. Her choice in eyeing him was making her a very lucky woman that evening. Once they were outside their room, Robert kissed her on the cheek and let go of her hand, going for his dressing room.

Cora's smile fell from her face and she furrowed her brow slightly, proceeding into their bedroom and shutting the door before pulling the bell cord and ringing for Baxter, sitting down on the settee at the end of the bed, wondering what had happened to make Robert go into his dressing room rather than coming into their room and letting her undress him for terrific fun before bedtime.

Inside Robert's dressing room, Robert chuckled as he pulled the bell cord and sat down on the bed waiting for Bates. His plan was working so far. Usually, he would have his shoes and a few other things off for when Bates arrived, but in order for his plan to work, he had to make Cora wait for him. When Bates arrived, Robert told him to take as long as possible, making Bates' brow furrow. Usually when his Lordship told him to take as long as possible, he would be sleeping in his dressing room, having been banished there by his wife, but his face said the utter opposite. He wore a satisfied grin with a glint in his eye, which usually meant that Bates took barely any time at all. As a married man, he understood how much his employer's enjoyed each others company in the bedroom.

In the bedroom however, Baxter was told to leave as soon as her Ladyship was in her undergarments. This was something Baxter did not find unusual with her employer, she was typically dismissed once her Ladyship was in a small amount of clothing. That usually meant that she wouldn't need to repair a nightgown the next day and she was grateful for it, since it seemed as though she was always mending her Ladyship's nightgowns. She was pleased that his Lordship loved his wife and that she loved him. Loving marriages in the aristocracy gave her hope. As Baxter left, Cora smiled and stripped her undergarments off, putting her dressing gown on and sitting at her vanity to prepare for the evening she planned to have once her husband came into the room.

Twenty minutes later, Robert finally entered through the dividing door, bringing a smile to Cora's face. He smiled at her in reply, removing his dressing gown and draping it over a chair. Cora's smile faltered slightly when she noticed that Robert was wearing his pyjamas, but it returned fully when she realized that she'd be able to rip them from his body and send them flying all over the room. He sat down in one of the armchairs as Cora stood up and started walking toward him. She shook her head, sending her hair over her shoulders as she sat astride him on the armchair. "Did you enjoy yourself today?" she asked, seductively.

"I did," Robert replied, not looking at her. "I always enjoy a day at the palace, it hasn't happened in a long time."

"Oh," she said, pressing her body closer to his. "Well, I was thinking that, after such a long day, we might..." She bit her lip and thrust her chest out slightly.

"Oh right," he said. "I am rather tired, getting a good night's sleep would be wonderful. You don't get many of those during the season."

"Robert, that isn't quite what I meant," Cora replied, standing up. "Help me out of my dressing gown, that might give you a hint as to what I meant."

"Alright," Robert said, opening her dressing gown and pushing it to the floor, taking in his wife's naked body. "Well, I didn't make a plan for this to happen. Cora, how is it that every time I see you like this, you get more and more perfect and I feel like I deserve you less and less?"

Cora's eyes filled with tears. "Why do you think that?" she asked. "No one in the entire world could ever deserve me more than you. You're the one I love, the one I want, no one else deserves me."

"Cora, you're just so beautiful," he whispered. "What good thing have I done to deserve such an exquisite woman?"

"You've loved me. You've been a wonderful husband," she said. "Which is a lot more than I can say for our lot. Just hold me and stop thinking that you don't deserve me. If anything, I haven't done anything to deserve a husband like you."

"Oh, Cora," he said, standing up and pulling her into his arms. "Don't think that. You do everything to ensure that I'm a happy man, and I try to make sure that you're a happy woman. I do my best."

"Everything I do is for you," she said, looking up at him. Her hands trailed up his chest and she began unbuttoning his pyjama shirt. "Even this."

Fifteen minutes later, Robert and Cora lay on the bed, Robert on top of Cora. He leaned down to kiss her. "Good Lord, my love, you are so perfect," Robert groaned. "I planned on making you wait."

"You did make me wait," she replied, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Not for that long," he said. "I meant just play with you all night and avoid giving you what we both wanted."

"Oh, please, I waited all day. You wouldn't have a go with me this morning, and I had to wait during the entire time we were at the palace and then Bates took forever getting you ready for bed," she said.

"I told him to take as long as possible," he smirked. Cora's eyes narrowed and she turned onto her side, sending Robert to the bed. "Darling, what was that for?"

"You're so mean, making your wife wait," she said. "You should consider yourself lucky that I love you so much."

"And I do, my love. Every single day," Robert replied, making Cora smile again as he pressed his lips to her's.


End file.
